Lost Stars
by LazyStudent
Summary: The four had suffered for their selflessness as Danzo's coup had been successful. Twisted, beaten, and broken, they did their best to endure but even the most willful shinobi must succumb to torture.
1. Chapter 1

_"You three have to make it."_

 _"Sensei!"_

 _Their gazes looked on in fear and anger at their fallen teacher as the root members surrounded them._

 _"We have to make an opening" Asuma wheezed out._

 _Shikamaru nodded but it was already too late. They were surrounded by at least 25 root members and they were out of power and energy. Shikamaru could see the outcome and he knew there was only one way to avoid it...with the least amount of casualties._

 _Mustering up his chakra he glanced at both Ino and Choji embedding their faces in his memory one last time._

 _"Ino! Choji! I need both you guys to run as soon as I give this signal. And when you do don't stop for anything, Asuma and I will catch up to you guys later."_

 _"What are you talking about Shikamaru!? We're are not going to leave you two with them!"_

 _Shikamaru gritted his teeth in frustration. He knew the last part of what he said was a lie but now wasn't the time to act emotional, now was the time to act like a ninja._

 _"Dammit, you guys go and make sure Naruto and the others are safe on their way out! Now go! I'll catch up, I promise." He gave them his signature smirk as he moved his hands for his famed shadow possession jutsu. Putting every ounce of his chakra into it, he shouted at his teammates to leave as his shadow grabbed hold of the root members._

 _Choji obeyed his teammate's order and took hold of Ino as they made their escape. Ino kicked and screamed for Choji to let go as she wanted Asuma and Shikamaru with her and away from the Root._

 _Shikamaru's vision clouded as chakra exhaustion finally kicked in. His shadows slowly receded as he collapsed, faintly watching his sensei breath his last breath as darkness took him._


	2. Chapter 2

_Hinata's first instinct was to rush to Naruto and help him as Danzou tried to take the nine tails from him. But she couldn't. He couldn't be her first priority like he always was. The village was on fire, blood was everywhere, and people were dying. Shinobi fighting one another and civilians dying in the crossfire. From the corner of her eye, she could see Kiba making his way towards her while fighting off the root shinobi that had surrounded them._

 _"Hinata the clans and everybody else are fleeing, we need to go!"_

 _"Not yet!"_

 _Running over to a crying civilian child she moved her out of the way just in time for stray kunai to hit the ground._

 _Holding the crying girl closer she moved toward a nearby building unsure what was safe and what wasn't with so much chaos happening. With her byakugan she saw no one inside and ran past the doors and stuffed the child in a nearby closet ushering the child to stay quiet._

 _She then moved quickly out of the house to see her teammate missing as well as Naruto. Straining her byakugan she could see them fleeing the village._

 _With a sigh escaping her she made her way towards the tree line only to be ambushed by Root and Danzou himself._

 _"Hinata Hyuga, for a main branch member such as yourself and user of the byakugan even you must realize your own worth, and I'm afraid I can't let you leave."_

 _Hinata clenched her teeth in frustration, she couldn't go down like this not while everyone is fighting for their lives._

 _But she knew she had no choice but to surrender._


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N Okay, so I just realized that Lee was able to release genjutsu later on in the show/manga so well...let's just pretend he can't at the moment._**

* * *

 _When it came down to it Lee knew he was a weak shinobi. A shinobi that couldn't form a jutsu and couldn't break a genjutsuwas a weak shinobi. Lee knew he could outdo many in a taijutsu battle. But what if they were as strong as him? What if they could use ninjutsu and genjutsu and be a master of taijustu. If that was the case then he would lose. A single act of hesitation would cost him everything._

 _He realized all of this a long time ago but as he ran for his life along with his teammates he knew something had to give._

 _They had been running for a while now and Lee had to carry Tenten while Gai carried Neji as both had collapsed. Neji was bleeding from a wound he received when protecting Tenten and Tenten was too tired to defend herself any longer. The only ones left was Gai sensei and himself._

 _Lee ran through all the possibilities in his head. Gai could easily stall for enough time for them to escape but if Lee had to end up carrying them away and look for the others that have ran then they surely wouldn't get far. He couldn't sense chakra and he still wasn't as strong as his teacher._

 _But if he chose to stall the root members then it would at least allow Gai to find the rest of the fleeing Konoha shinobi._

 _Opening the seven gates he moved toward Gai and placed TenTen in his arms. Ignoring his sensei's confused look he made his way toward the root members and used the taijutsu that he had been using all his life to take down as many as he could._

 _"Lee!"_

 _"Gai sensei get them to safety I'm right behind you!"_

 _Of course, he knew Gai couldn't afford to make it back to him otherwise, everything so far would have been a wasted effort. As he swiftly evaded the enemy attacks he kicked and punched as many as he could. But soon he felt his chakra leave him as he couldn't keep the eight gated form activated forever. As soon as he released the form he felt a heaviness cloud his senses. Barely registering what was happening he fell from tree branch he was on and realized that a measly genjutsu that any shinobi could release themselves from had taken him down._


	4. Chapter 4

_"Dad, Mom! No!"_

 _"Sakura-chan, we have to go!"_

 _Fire and blood. The two things that clouded the scene before her. Her teammates ran ahead of her through the forest. Ninjas falling left and right as Danzou's men were getting close. They wouldn't make it. She could see Sasuke and the other Uchihas releasing jutsu after jutsu setting the forest on fire. She was barely able to dodge some of them as her stamina diminished and she became exhausted trying to keep up with the clansmen._

 _"Pick up the pace Sakura-chan!"_

 _She could faintly hear Naruto over the beating of her own heart. Looking over her shoulder her heart stilled. The root operatives passed through the flames of the destroyed forest like the machines they were, ready to reap their heads. But she knew they weren't after her. They were after her best friend. Looking in front of her towards Naruto's slowed and lagging form she almost burst into tears._

 _They already tried to extract the kyuubi from him once only to be foiled thanks to Sasuke's quick thinking. But it was obvious that it took a harsh toll on Naruto physically. It showed even more because of the fact that he was lagging with_ _ **her**_ _while everyone else was at least a few yards ahead._

 _She felt frustration overcome her at the site. Did they not understand that Naruto needed to be protected at all cost? If Danzou got his hands on the Kyuubi it would be all over. He needed to be in the front with Sasuke dammit. Not in the back with her and a hundred root members ._

 _She tried to voice her opinion but her throat wouldn't cooperate with her. They've been running for hours nonstop and were heading towards the village hidden in the rain. They were so close to it, but then she felt it._

 _The quick flicker and chains swarmed around her and Naruto. Putting as much chakra into her arm and legs she gripped Narutos hand and threw him with all her might to the front of the crowd of Uchihas._

 _"Sakura-chan!?" Naruto screamed as he looked at her with shock and fright. Looking into his eyes she tried to convey everything she wanted to tell him but was cut short as the chains latched on to her arms and legs pulling her back._

 _"Make it out, Naruto!"_

 _Letting the chains drag her back she smiled. She knew sooner or later she would be left behind. Closing her eyes she jumped as high as the chains allowed her to and lifted her right foot up delivering her mentors signature heavenly foot of pain on the ground putting every ounce of chakra she had splitting the ground into a gigantic creator that would stall the root members long enough for the others to get some good distance in._

 _Landing in the middle of the creator darkness clouded her vision as root members surrounded her. The only thing left was the distant shouting of her name as her mind faded into darkness._

 _(Flashback ended)_

A dark pair of green eyes that were once bright stared off at the pale ceilling. She hated waking up to the past. It was over and done with, all it needed to do was stay buried.

Looking at the clock beside her bed she sighed. '5:00am' It was time to report to Danzou.


	5. Chapter 5

Danzo looked out the window from his seat in the Hokage's office. A smirk appearing on his wrinkled face.

He silently reveled in what he had done, because he was Hokage now. After such a long battle with those who denied him his right to be in this seat, he had finally gained the position he had always wanted.

However, a frown slowly adorned his face as he thought back to the great loss his village had suffered.

After he had taken control of the village the more powerful clans had fled. An eternal war raged as that bastard Minato led the resistance. Many Uchiha, Inazuka, Yamanaka, and many others left, dealing death from both sides.

Only a few were left such as the Hyuga and Aburame, and he made sure to put them to use and to imprison the ones he didn't want out in the open.

He made sure to mass produce more shinobi from retired to younglings. Making sure each had reached his expectations going through root programs and being strong enough to take down anyone except himself.

He needed to make sure his village retained its fearsome title and to keep others from invading what was his.

The small few that were retrieved from the others defection had suffered by him the most.

With the sudden shift in the room, he turned in his chair and looked at the four Anbu captains who were true tools he himself created.

The four suffered for letting that bastard's son escape his clutches, and so they paid dearly for it.

Torture that could destroy a person mentally, physically, and spiritually were bestowed onto the four. Everything imaginable, he even had records of every method possible from Ibiki himself to try out on them.

No matter what he saw to it that they would obey his every command.

Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, and Rock Lee

His eyes glanced at each masked face, a glint of approval crossing his face.

Finished examining them he took a sealed scroll out from his desk and set it in front of the Taijutsu master.

"This mission is top priority and will be completed without fail, is that understood."

"Yes Danzo-sama"

As they left Danzo couldn't help but smirk again while turning to look at his face carved into the Hokage Mountains. Soon he will take the land of fire as a whole, and then all the nations.

As the four silently reached the gates they passed by Izumo and Kotetsu who both watched in shock as the four old friends now individual captains walk passed.

Making their way through the forest the four stopped and stared at each other. This was the first time they had all been on a mission before and seen each other in almost five years. All four taking in the others appearance.

Done examining each other, Lee took the mission scroll and opened it.

 _Go to the land of Ame and refuse the peace treaty, and make sure they know Konoha isn't a village to cross. Kill any resistance you come in contact with. I expect you to be dead or back in my office in three days._

Taking the scroll and passing it he made sure everyone read it and then activated the seal on the paper for it to burn into flames.

Finished the group of captains sprinted toward Ame.

Pein waited patiently for the Konoha shinobi to present themselves as he set in front of his desk.

"When are they going to get here?!"

"Patience Naruto."

 **A/N Here are their outfit descriptions. I took it out of the story because I know how some people hate clothing descriptions. Also, they all have summoning seals on both their hands because that is like the most convenient thing I have seen in this series.**

Shikamaru is wearing the usual Anbu outfit with a wolf mask, summons two tanto. He also summons another weapon which will be revealed later.

Hinata wore a lizard mask and can summon a bow from her summoning tattoo on her wrist. She uses chakra as the arrow.

Sakura has a bear mask on and summons brass knuckles.

Lee had a tiger mask on and has the regular Anbu gear on except he has bandages covering his arms like before, and large chakra weight bracelets on his arms and legs. He summons two katanas.


End file.
